


room 1043

by JennieHanna



Category: Andi Mack (TV)
Genre: Hospital Visit, Kippen Siblings, M/M, Not Canon Compliant, Secret Relationship, TJ is a-okay but Cyrus is not, certainly not this, it can be if you squint, what's canon?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-16
Updated: 2019-07-16
Packaged: 2020-06-29 08:34:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19826449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JennieHanna/pseuds/JennieHanna
Summary: When TJ passes out in class and is rushed to the hospital, Cyrus ditches school to go visit him.He doesn't want to think about Buffy and Andi's texts.





	1. The Text

Cyrus was fighting to stay awake in his second period Spanish class and yawning into his sweatshirt sleeves. It was one of TJ’s old sweatshirts that was just small enough to fit Cyrus without looking out of place and had no recognizable markings that it didn’t belong to him, as to not make Buffy or Andi suspicious, as it was just solid black.

He’d spent all night on the phone with TJ talking about God knows what. At first it was simply about college plans and where they were going to apply until it morphed into sleep hazed mumbling and half finished sentences. But, at least, Cyrus knew now that his favorite ice cream flavor was plain vanilla, which he thought was worth the dark circles painting his face.

Señora Cruz was standing at the front of the room—which resembled a jail cell with no windows and dark grey walls—and telling them to take out their homework.

Shit.

Cyrus pretended to look around his backpack for a few moments and then through his folders. He thought he’d completed everything before his phone call with TJ, but apparently not.

“Vamos a compartir los respuestas correctas juntos,” she began, “Marcos, por favor, leenos número uno.”

The teacher continued going up and down rows and having kids read out the answers. Cyrus quickly skimmed the worksheet in blind panic. What in the world was this conjugation again?

“Cyrus, número dieciocho.”

Shit shit shit.

“Uh,” he read the question again, “Si fuera un animal sería un león.”

She nodded pleased with his response and moved on. Cyrus breathed out a sigh of relief. That’s when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. Who would be texting him in the middle of class? Andi and Buffy certainly wouldn’t. Maybe it was TJ? But even he knew better knowing Señora Cruz’s strict phone policy.

As his teacher was collecting some papers from her desk in the corner, he thanked his luck his seat was farthest away, and slid his phone onto his lap.

One new message from unknown number: _Hey Cy, this is Amber—_

How in the world did she get his phone number? He opened the message. Unknown: _Hey Cy, this is Amber! I’m at the hospital w/TJ rn. He passed out during first hour gym and is going to be here overnight for observation. We’re at St. Joann’s, room 1043 if you want to stop by. TJ’s sleeping rn._

Cyrus shot his hand up, “Puedo ir al oficina?”

Señora Cruz eyed him warily. She was an older woman with a strict “no anything unless spoken to first” type of person. Cyrus prayed he had a good enough reputation to slip by her just this once.

She waved at the door boredly, “Sí…” He wasted no time rushing out of Spanish, bolting to the parking lot, and driving to the hospital.


	2. First Night

St. Joann’s was a small county hospital and only a half hour drive from Shadyside. Cyrus drove in a haze, Amber’s message replaying in his mind. TJ’s in the hospital. TJ passed out. Overnight observation.

Amber’s tone hadn’t been grave indicating anything truly bad had happened to him, but Cyrus’ brain ran through horror scenarios all the way up to floor 10. Had he hit his head and gotten a concussion when he fell? Was there a parasite eating away at his brain from bad pork? It could be anything. The smell of the hospital did nothing to calm his nerves. It smelt sterile and clean in only the way a hospital could, except for the fact he’d read hospitals were one of the most unclean places you could possibly be. Which didn’t surprise him at all, given all that went on in one.

The nurse station was empty when the elevator doors opened, so he walked passed scanning the room numbers. Room 1043 was the last room on the left side of the hall. The door was already cracked open, so Cyrus took a deep breath and walked in.

The lights were off and only sunlight dappled around. A small box TV located far up the wall on a shelf was buzzing softly with a golf game. Everything about it felt too still, quiet.

“Cyrus! You came,” Amber jumped up from where she’d been sitting in a small recliner beside TJ’s hospital bed. She hadn’t even put on any makeup this morning and her eyes were rimmed red and puffy. Like she’d been crying. “I didn’t expect you so soon.”

“It’s TJ,” was all he said. Amber nodded as if that’s all she needed to hear. It’s all he needed to say.

Speaking of TJ, Cyrus was trying his best to not cry in front of Amber. The hospital bed took up most of the space in the room and a monitor watching his vitals beeped rhymically with the golf game. Fluids were being pumped into his system. The scratchy white sheets were tucked around him tightly—he guessed Amber wanted him to stay warm—and he was passed out on the bed wearing a hospital gown. His hair hadn’t even been gelled since he usually put it in after gym class, so it fell into his face. He looked pale and weak sleeping away, engulfed in everything. It broke Cyrus’ heart.

“What happened?” he broke the silence.

Amber smiled shakily, “I got a call from Marty saying he’d passed out at the end of gym class. He was sorta lucid enough to make it to the nurses with the help of him, but they decided to send him to the hospital. I told the school not to call an ambulance and that I would take him since our parents are at work. The doctor said he was severely dehydrated, which is why he passed out.”

Cyrus’ brows furrowed, “Dehydrated?”

She threw her hands up, “Apparently. I don’t pay much attention to his drinking habits, but he must not have been getting enough water. Basketball season combined with the stress of school probably didn’t help.”

Cyrus tried to recall if he’d noticed TJ drinking less than normal and came up short. Amber was right. You normally don’t pay attention to people’s drinking habits, even if they were your boyfriend.

Amber stood up and stretched, “I’m going to head to the cafeteria, I’m starving. Did you want to come? Have you had breakfast?”

“I’m fine, thanks. I’ll stay here.” Cyrus moved to sit on a bench near the window.

She fixed him a gentler smile, “He’ll be fine, Cyrus. They just want to make sure his body is properly functioning before they let him go. They’ve got him on fluid 24/7 to make sure of it.”

He returned her smile, “I know, I know, it’s just-”

“-worried boyfriend?”

“Exactly.”

She laughed and promised to return soon. Once she disappeared with the door closing behind, Cyrus moved to the recliner she’d occupied beside TJ’s bedside and stared down at him sadly.

He looked peaceful in a way, but just severely worn out. It wasn’t the way Cyrus was used to seeing him. His chest felt heavy.

Cyrus reached out and ran a hand through TJ’s hair to ground himself a little and soothe the sinking feeling he didn’t realize had been in the pit of his stomach until then. Something about a person lying helplessly in the hospital always made him feel sick to his stomach. Seeing TJ here made him feel like he was going to die.

The hum of the TV and the calming motion of touching TJ kept him occupied for about fifteen minutes before TJ’s eyelids fluttered opened.

“TJ?” Cyrus breathed out in relief.  
His boyfriend didn’t respond right away, just screwed his eyes shut as if the dim sunlight hurt to look at, before shooting his hand out desperately and latching onto Cyrus’ wrist.

“Headache,” he mumbled groggily like he needed water. Judging by why they were there in the first place, he probably did.

Cyrus looked around, “Do you want me to get the nurse?”

“No, no, just stay with me.”

So Cyrus let TJ grip the life out of his poor hand for the next ten minutes or so, just thankful he’d finally woken up and could talk. The panic that had been hiding away in his ribs was loosening.

When TJ finally opened his eyes, he stared straight up at the ceiling.

“This sucks,” he finally said.

Cyrus let out a surprised laugh, “I mean, yeah, a bit. Doctor said you were dehydrated.”

“Uh,” TJ released Cyrus’ wrist and pressed his palms into his eyes, “It feels like a migraine. What does a migraine even feel like? I don’t know, but I swear I have one.”

“Headaches are a common side effect of not drinking enough.”

TJ and Cyrus’ heads shot up at the sound of Amber’s voice where she’d finally returned holding a water bottle and a styrofoam box.

She handed both to Cyrus, “They had tater tots in the cafeteria, so I got you some. Warning: they’re not as good as baby taters, but I think they’ll do.”

Cyrus thanked her. TJ groaned, “Nothing for me? I’m gonna die of starvation over here.”

Amber aimed a perfectly manicured finger at him and said, “You, sir, were gonna die from not taking care of yourself properly.”

“So you’re just gonna let me starve?” TJ pouted.

“Mm guess you should have thought about that before ending up in the hospital,” Amber chuckled, “I talked to the nurses, you’ll be given water in a few hours to test if you can handle it. Just hold tight. We can’t give you anything.”

At that, TJ sighed heavily and threw his head back, “You forget to drink enough water one time.”

“And you passed out. You don’t get an opinion right now.”

Cyrus watched their sibling tennis match while eating his, admittedly, bad tater tots and adding a word here or there if needed. The three of them kept weak conversation after that considering TJ would phase in and out of sleep. After about four hours, Amber glanced at her phone and cursed, “I have to get to work or I’ll be late for my shift. Will you be staying? Our mom will be coming around eight, so you don’t need to stay if you don’t want to.”

He looked down to where TJ had taken his hand again in his sleep. Cyrus didn’t want to leave TJ at all while he was here if he could.

He said, “I’ll be fine. I’ll text you updates.”

She smiled, “You’re too sweet to him.”  
“Is that a bad thing?”

“Of course not. Just an observation I like.”

He rolled his eyes and wished her a good shift. The Spoon would probably be packed after school since it was a beautiful sunny day and everyone would want to be out and about.

When it seemed TJ had actually passed out for good, Cyrus decided now would be a good time to sneak out to his car and grab his backpack. He couldn’t miss doing any homework so early in the school year. Thank God it was friday and he could email all his teachers for the assignments he’d missed.

Wait.

He’d ditched school.

In the haze of wanting to get to TJ the fastest, he’d forgotten to text his mom to call him out.

Where the hell did he put his phone?

He scanned the hospital room and saw it still sitting on the bench from where he’d dropped it when he’d first came in. Cyrus grabbed it and turned it on.

23 new messages. 3 missed calls. 1 voicemail.

Oh no.

He hurriedly swiped through the messages, mostly from Buffy and Andi asking him where’d he’d gone, if he was okay. The calls were from his mom.

Cyrus texted his mom: _Hey, sorry for scaring you. TJ got hospitalized and I’m with him now at St. Joann’s. Sorry for forgetting to tell you._

He knew his mom loved TJ.

From Mom: _Don’t leave school without telling me next time! I hope TJ’s okay… will you be coming home tonight?_

He thought for a moment: _No, I’ll probably stay here._

When he got the all clear from his mom, Cyrus set down his phone and reclined back in the chair. He couldn’t dare look at Andi and Buffy’s texts right now. They didn’t even known he was dating TJ yet. Ever since middle school, she’d never liked him and the staple of “Toxic TJ Kippen” hadn’t left her vocabulary. To be fair, it wasn’t until junior year that Cyrus himself had finally learned that TJ wasn’t that person either, and it wasn’t like TJ went out of his way to befriend her, but Cyrus knew TJ never acted the way he did in middle school.

It took being assigned to tutor TJ in math that they’d finally grown closer and Cyrus realized that, surprisingly, he and TJ got along well right off the bat. There’d been an energy around them that felt so comfortable, natural even. As if they’d always meant to be side by side together.

Cyrus didn’t expect to be side by side of a hospital bed, but he knew that came with the territory of loving someone.

The next time TJ woke up, it was five-o-clock and Cyrus was working on his history paper. It was a bit harder than he expected considering the Reagan administration both infuriated and bored him endlessly.

“Hey, Teej,” he said softly and set his computer to the side.

TJ gave a weak smile with no teeth and sat up slowly, “Did Amber go?”

“Yeah, a while ago. She had work.”

“So it’s just you and me.”

“Seems that way,” Cyrus shifted so he was facing TJ. He still looked pale and exhausted and was shivering like he had a fever, “Do you want another blanket? Now that you’re awake the nurse will want to come see if you can stomach water, we can get a warm one.”

TJ shook his head, but let out a soft hiss and stopped as if that movement hurt him.

“Would you, uh, come lay with me?” he asked with slight blush.

Cyrus laughed, “Is that even a question?”

TJ’s expression brightened and he shifted on the bed to make sure Cyrus wouldn’t be tangled in the IV’s pumping fluid into his body. Cyrus curled into his side on top of the blanket. Both the blankets and the hospital gown were quite thin, so he could feel TJ’s body very clear against his. It relaxed him to finally be able to feel that he wasn’t gonna slip away from him somehow. He was strong and alive beside him.

TJ wrapped an arm around Cyrus’ waist and leaned his head on top of his. He whispered, “Thanks for coming, Underdog.”

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” his reply was slightly muffled by fabric, but TJ gripped him tightered.

“You actually ditched school for me,” TJ breathed out with a hint of awe, “Mister ‘I live in the middle’ actually ditched.”

“What was I supposed to do! Leave you here alone?”

TJ smirked and it made him look healthier somehow, “I think you’re qualified for the side of danger now.”

Cyrus rolled his eyes, “Yeah right.”

“I’m serious! Ditching school is like, level 100 danger.”

“Do I get a sticker?”

TJ made a show of clicking his tongue in thought, “How about a sticker and a movie night of your choice when we get out?”

“You mean when we finally get back to the outside,” Cyrus chuckled.

TJ looked delighted by him playing along, “Our long sentence for living on the edge.”

“It was worth it,” Cyrus said, looking him right in the eye.

TJ pressed a kiss to his forehead.

**Author's Note:**

> The Spanish if you'd like to know:
> 
> Vamos a compartir los respuestas correctas juntos= We are going to share the correct answers together  
> Marcos, por favor, leenos número uno= Marcos please read to us number one  
> Cyrus, número dieciocho= Cyrus, number 18  
> Si fuera un animal sería un león= If i were an animal, I'd be a lion  
> Puedo ir al oficina= Can I go to the office  
> Sí= yes


End file.
